The invention relates to a brush seal for sealing components which move relative to one another, having a sealing part, of which the bristles, which are held by a bristle backing with their free ends aligned with the sealing surface, are held in their predetermined working position by a support plate.
In known brush seals of this type, the sealing part which bears the bristles is clamped in a rotationally symmetrical bristle housing, which includes a cover plate and a support plate, in such a manner that the free ends of the bristles are directed radially inward onto the surface which is to be sealed off; cf. DE 100 18 273 A1.
Brush seals of this type, which are used to seal off a rotor with respect to a stator and the cover and support plates of which are welded together or connected to one another by other joining processes (e.g. flanging), and which, moreover, have to have positioning means on the bristle housing, so as to prevent incorrect installation and twisting of the brush seal, with assigned corresponding positioning means on a bearing surface of the component which bears the brush seal, are of complex structure and are only suitable for sealing off rotationally symmetrical bodies.
The invention is based on the object of widening the application area for brush seals of this type, simplifying their structure and developing them further in such a manner that they are suitable for sealing any desired sealing surfaces, i.e. including three-dimensionally curved sealing surfaces.
Working on the basis of a brush seal of the type described in the introduction, this object is achieved, according to the invention, by the fact that the support plate is designed as an independent clamping member for the sealing part, which is held by being pressed into a recess of a component which bears the brush seal, which recess includes a bearing surface for the support plate.
The design in accordance with the invention comprises only a sealing part and the support plate, which holds the bristles of the sealing part in their predetermined working position. The support plate is designed as a clamping part for the sealing part and can be pressed into recesses of any desired curvature, in the form of grooves in the component which bears the brush seal, so as to form a form and force locking securing means for the sealing part. There is therefore no need to construct the welded or flanged bristle housing which has hitherto been customary and to form special positioning means.
Should the sealing part need to be replaced, the support plate can be removed from the groove. To insert a new sealing part, a new support plate is required, since the previous support plate becomes unusable when it is removed from the groove.
This amazingly simple design of the parts of the brush seal, which are held by being pressed into place, results in simple and inexpensive assembly and dismantling even for complicated applications which encompass sealing surfaces of any desired curvature, which has not been possible with the brush seals which have been disclosed hitherto.
According to a preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention, the clamping member, which is designed as a support plate, has a knurling, which extends into the region of the recess and clamps the bristle backing of the sealing element in the recess, and also a bearing surface which corresponds with the bearing surface of the recess.
According to a further feature of the invention, the clamping member, which serves as a support plate, has a bearing surface, which corresponds with the bearing surface of the recess, and alternating wavy projections which extend into the region of the recess and on the one hand engage in an undercut surface of the recess and on the other hand bear against the bristle backing of the sealing member.
According to the invention, the clamping member, which serves as a support plate, may also have a collar, which partially surrounds the bristle backing of the sealing member, projects into the recess in the component which bears the brush seal and is assigned an undercut, located opposite the bearing surface, in the recess, while the bristle backing of the sealing element is at least partially surrounded by means of a flange lip of the collar.
Finally, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the collar of the support plate which is to be pressed into the recess is provided, at the base surface remote from the bristle ends, with a central bead, which can be permanently deformed by the sealing part being pressed into the recess, in such a manner that the collar comes to bear against the walls of the recess, which is preferably designed as a groove with a dovetail-like cross section.
The invention is described below on the basis of four exemplary embodiments illustrated in the drawing, in which, in detail: